Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner
In the realm of cloud management, Amazon Onboarding provides a comprehensive platform designed to facilitate every stage of your application life cycle, from resource provisioning and configuration management to application deployment, monitoring, and access control. As I mentioned in my initial piece (Amazon Onboarding – Flexible Application Management in the Cloud), this platform is capable of handling applications of varying complexities and is not tied to any specific architectural pattern.
Originally, Amazon Onboarding was launched with support exclusively for EC2 instances operating on Linux. Subsequently, we expanded our capabilities to accommodate on-premises servers, also running Linux. Additionally, we have integrated support for Java, Amazon RDS, Amazon Simple Workflow, and beyond.
Let’s familiarize ourselves with some key terminology in Amazon Onboarding! An Onboarding Stack serves as a host for one or more Applications, incorporating a collection of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances along with blueprints (referred to as Layers) that configure the instances within the Stack. Furthermore, each Stack may reference one or more Chef Cookbooks.
Introducing Windows Support
Today, we are excited to enhance Amazon Onboarding by introducing support for EC2 instances running Windows Server 2012 R2. These instances can be configured using Custom layers, where the associated Cookbooks will manage instance provisioning, software installation—both packaged and custom—and respond to lifecycle events. Additionally, they can execute PowerShell scripts.
Getting Started with Windows
You can now designate Windows 2012 R2 as your default operating system when creating a new Stack. During this setup, be sure to click on Advanced and select Chef version 12, as illustrated below:
Next, you’ll want to add a Custom Layer. By selecting a security group that permits inbound RDP access, you can utilize a new feature that allows you to generate temporary access credentials for instances within the Layer.
With your Stack and Layer properly configured, proceed to add an Instance to the Layer and start it up.
Connecting to a Windows Instance
Amazon Onboarding allows you to create IAM users, import them, assign them appropriate permissions, and log into the instances using their credentials (via RDP or SSH, as applicable)! For instance, you might create a user named winuser for RDP access.
To connect as winuser, you must first log into the console using the relevant user credentials. Once logged in, you can request temporary access to the instance. If you possess the necessary permissions (Show and SSH/RDP), you can connect via RDP.
Amazon Onboarding will generate a temporary session for you, displaying the credentials and offering the option to download an RDP file.
Utilizing this file, you can connect, enter your password, and patiently wait a couple of seconds to log in.
And just like that, you’re greeted with your Windows server desktop!
Available Now
This new functionality is available immediately, so you can start utilizing it today! To dive deeper, check out the Getting Started with Windows Stacks section in the Amazon Onboarding User Guide. If you’re curious about how your mood can affect your work environment, consider reading this helpful blog post. Additionally, for more insights on mental health and wellness, SHRM offers an excellent virtual retreat. Lastly, for a more visual understanding, this video serves as a valuable resource.
— Chanci
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